Parents may not be told teacher is a convicted P smuggler

Parents may not be told their early childhood teacher is a convicted P smuggler

The Early Childhood Council (ECC) is today expressing ‘serious concern’ at a Teachers Council decision to maintain the registration of a childcare worker who has admitted to using P and who was sentenced last year for importing the drug into New Zealand.

ECC CEO Peter Reynolds said that while the Teacher Council’s Disciplinary Tribunal had ruled future employers be informed ofHaley Carol Jacobs background, there was no requirement for anyone to inform parents.

Mr Reynolds said it was ‘very concerning’ the Teachers Council had chosen to retain Ms Jacobs on its list of registered teachers, and it was possible Ms Jacobs might end up teaching children whose parents were ‘entirely unaware of her background’.

The Teachers Council was notorious amongst early childhood services ‘for maintaining the registration of teachers in questionable circumstances’, he said.

It was maintaining Haley Jacobs registration despite her pleading guilty to importing P. It had maintained, in the past, the registration of jailed paedophile James Parker. And it had maintained, for a period, the registration of Andrew Loader, convicted for paying to watch teens have sex.

The Early Childhood Council was asking just how badly teachers would have to behave before the Teachers Council decided to withdraw registration, Mr Reynolds said.

It was time, he said, for ‘common sense’.

Professional bodies were supposed to maintain professional standards and protect the public. And it was ‘way past time’ for the Teachers Council to start doing its job.

The Early Childhood Council has a membership of more than 1000 early childhood centres. About 30% are community-owned and 70% commercially owned. These centres care for tens of thousands of children from one end of New Zealand to the other.

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